Radio frequency identification tag tire inflation pressure monitoring and location determining method and apparatus

Abstract

A wireless tire inflation pressure measurement device is used to obtain inflation pressure information for a tire of a vehicle and a signal therefrom may be used for determining the location of the tire. An identifier may be associated with the inflation pressure information for each wheel of the vehicle. Tire rotation speed may be determined by amplitude fluctuations of a radio frequency carrier from a radio frequency transmitter rotating with the wheel. Differences in wheel rotation speeds during a turn may be used in determining the location of each tire of the vehicle. An antenna may be placed on each wheel toward the outer perimeter of the wheel and connected to the radio frequency transmitter. A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and pressure sensor may be used as the wireless tire inflation pressure measurement device and a RFID pickup coil may be provided in each wheel well for pickup of the inflation pressure signals from each RFID tag on a wheel.

What is claimed is:  
     
         3 EM 1 . A method for determining inflation pressures of tires and locations thereof on wheels of a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of: 
 providing a wireless inflation pressure measuring device for each wheel of a vehicle, each of the wireless inflation pressure measuring devices comprising a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and an inflation pressure sensor for measuring inflation pressure of a tire mounted on a respective one of the wheels;    providing a RFID tag reader antenna coil for each vehicle wheel and located within reading range of the respective RFID tag of the vehicle wheel;    providing a RFID tag reader connected to each of the RFID tag reader antenna coils, wherein the RFID tag reader determines tire inflation pressure information from each of the RFID tags associated with each of the vehicle wheels; and    providing a inflation pressure monitor connected to the RFID tag reader and receiving the tire inflation pressure information for each of the tires.    
     
     
         3 EM 2 . The method of claim  3 EM 1 , further comprising the step of encrypting the tire inflation pressure information.  
     
     
         3 EM 3 . The method of claim  3 EM 1 , further comprising the steps of: 
 providing a temperature sensor coupled to the wireless inflation pressure measuring device; and    measuring tire temperature with the temperature sensor, wherein the RFID tag reader determines from each of the RFID tags temperature information.    
     
     
         3 EM 4 . The method of claim  3 EM 3 , further comprising the step of calculating a corrected tire pressure value for each tire of the vehicle based upon the respective tire temperature and pressure.  
     
     
         3 EM 5 . The method of claim  3 EM 1 , further comprising the step of generating an alert signal when a tire pressure is at a desired pressure.  
     
     
         3 EM 6 . The method of claim  3 EM 1 , further comprising the step of generating an alert signal when a tire pressure exceeds a maximum pressure.  
     
     
         5 EM 1 . A method for determining inflation pressures of tires on wheels of a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of: 
 providing a wireless inflation pressure measuring device for each wheel of a vehicle, each of the wireless inflation pressure measuring devices comprising a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and an inflation pressure sensor;    providing a RFID tag reader having an antenna coil adapted to be within reading range of each of the RFID tags on the vehicle wheels when the vehicle passes thereby, whereby each of the tire inflation pressures of the vehicle are obtained; and    providing a inflation pressure monitor connected to the RFID tag reader and receiving the inflation pressures for each of the vehicle tires.    
     
     
         5 EM 2 . The method of claim  5 EM 1 , wherein the inflation pressure monitor alarms upon detecting a low inflation pressure of a tire on the vehicle passing thereby.  
     
     
         5 EM 3 . The method of claim  5 EM 1 , further comprising the step of generating an alert signal when a tire pressure is at a desired pressure.  
     
     
         5 EM 4 . The method of claim  5 EM 1 , further comprising the step of generating an alert signal when a tire pressure exceeds a maximum pressure.  
     
     
         6 EM 1 . A method for determining inflation pressures of tires and locations thereof on wheels of a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of: 
 providing a wireless inflation pressure measuring device for each wheel of a vehicle, each of the wireless inflation pressure measuring devices comprising a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and an inflation pressure sensor;    providing a RFID tag reader having a first antenna coil adapted to be within reading range of each of the RFID tags on one side of the vehicle and a second antenna coil adapted to be within reading range of each of the RFID tags on the other side of the vehicle when the vehicle passes thereby, whereby each of the tire inflation pressures and locations of the wheels on the vehicle are obtained; and    providing a inflation pressure monitor connected to the RFID tag reader and receiving tire inflation pressures and locations of each of the vehicle wheels.    
     
     
         6 EM 2 . The method of claim  6 EM 1 , wherein the inflation pressure monitor alarms upon detecting a low inflation pressure of a tire on the vehicle passing thereby.  
     
     
         6 EM 3 . The method of claim  6 EM 2 , wherein the inflation pressure monitor indicates the location of the wheel having the low inflation pressure.  
     
     
         6 EM 4 . The method of claim  6 EM 1 , further comprising the step of determining the vehicle beginning.  
     
     
         6 EM 5 . The method of claim  6 EM 4 , further comprising the step of determining the vehicle end.  
     
     
         6 EM 6 . The method of claim  6 EM 2 , further comprising the step of alerting the vehicle operator of the low inflation pressure.  
     
     
         6 EM 7 . The method of claim  6 EM 6 , further comprising the step of alerting the vehicle operator of the wheel location having the low inflation pressure.  
     
     
         6 EM 8 . The method of claim  6 EM 2 , further comprising the step of dispatching a police officer to intercept the vehicle having the low inflation pressure.  
     
     
         6 EM 9 . The method of claim  6 EM 2 , further comprising the step of photographing the vehicle operator and license plate of the vehicle having the low inflation pressure.  
     
     
         6 EM 10 . The method of claim  6 EM 2 , further comprising the step of reading a serial number of the tire having the low inflation pressure.  
     
     
         6 EM 11 . The method of claim  6 EM 10 , wherein the serial number of the tire is recorded in the RFID tag and is read by the RFID tag reader.  
     
     
         6 EM 12 . The method of claim  6 EM 1 , further comprising the step of generating an alert signal when a tire pressure is at a desired pressure.  
     
     
         6 EM 13 . The method of claim  6 EM 1 , further comprising the step of generating an alert signal when a tire pressure exceeds a maximum pressure.  
     
     
         3 EA 1 . A apparatus for determining inflation pressures of tires and locations thereof on wheels of a vehicle, comprising: 
 a wireless inflation pressure measuring device for each wheel of a vehicle, each of the wireless inflation pressure measuring devices comprising a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and a tire inflation pressure sensor for measuring inflation pressure of a tire mounted on a respective one of the wheels;    a RFID tag reader antenna coil for each vehicle wheel and located within reading range of the respective RFID tag of the vehicle wheel;    a RFID tag reader connected to each of the RFID tag reader antenna coils, wherein the RFID tag reader determines tire inflation pressure information from each of the RFID tags associated with each of the vehicle wheels; and    an inflation pressure monitor connected to the RFID tag reader and receiving the tire inflation pressure information for each of the vehicle tires.    
     
     
         3 EA 2 . The apparatus of claim  3 EA 1 , further comprising an encryption circuit for encrypting the tire inflation pressure information.  
     
     
         3 EA 3 . The apparatus of claim  3 EA 1 , further comprising an alert signal when a tire pressure is at a desired pressure.  
     
     
         3 EA 4 . The apparatus of claim  3 EA 1 , further comprising an alert signal when a tire pressure exceeds a maximum pressure.  
     
     
         5 EA 1 . An apparatus for determining inflation pressures of tires on wheels of a vehicle, comprising: 
 a wireless inflation pressure measuring device for each wheel of a vehicle, each of the wireless inflation pressure measuring devices comprising a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and an inflation pressure sensor for measuring inflation pressure of a tire mounted on a respective one of the wheels;    a RFID tag reader having an antenna coil adapted to be within reading range of each of the RFID tags on the vehicle wheels when the vehicle passes thereby, whereby each of the tire inflation pressures of the vehicle are obtained; and    a tire inflation pressure monitor connected to the RFID tag reader and receiving the tire inflation pressures of the tires and locations thereof for each of the vehicle wheels.    
     
     
         5 EA 2 . The apparatus of claim  5 EA 1 , wherein the tire inflation pressure monitor alarms upon detecting a low inflation pressure of a tire on the vehicle passing thereby.  
     
     
         5 EA 3 . The apparatus of claim  5 EA 1 , further comprising an alert signal when a tire pressure is at a desired pressure.  
     
     
         5 EA 4 . The apparatus of claim  5 EA 1 , further comprising an alert signal when a tire pressure exceeds a maximum pressure.  
     
     
         6 EA 1 . An apparatus for determining inflation pressures of tires and locations thereof on a vehicle, comprising: 
 a wireless inflation pressure measuring device for each wheel of a vehicle, each of the wireless inflation pressure measuring devices comprising a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and an inflation pressure sensor for measuring inflation pressure of a tire mounted on a respective one of the wheels;    a RFID tag reader having a first antenna coil adapted to be within reading range of each of the RFID tags on one side of the vehicle and a second antenna coil adapted to be within reading range of each of the RFID tags on the other side of the vehicle when the vehicle passes thereby, whereby each of the inflation pressures and locations of the wheels on the vehicle are obtained; and    a tire inflation pressure monitor connected to the RFID tag reader and receiving inflation pressures of the tires and locations thereof for each of the vehicle wheels.    
     
     
         6 EA 2 . The apparatus of claim  6 EA 1 , wherein the tire inflation pressure monitor alarms upon detecting a low inflation pressure of a tire on the vehicle passing thereby.  
     
     
         6 EA 3 . The apparatus of claim  6 EA 2 , wherein the tire inflation pressure monitor indicates the location of the wheel having the low inflation pressure.  
     
     
         6 EA 4 . The apparatus of claim  6 EA 1 , further comprising a vehicle presence detector.  
     
     
         6 EA 5 . The apparatus of claim  6 EA 4 , wherein the vehicle presence detector determines the vehicle beginning and end.  
     
     
         6 EA 6 . The apparatus of claim  6 EA 2 , further comprising an indicator for alerting the vehicle operator of the low inflation pressure of a tire.  
     
     
         6 EA 7 . The apparatus of claim  6 EA 6 , further comprising a display for alerting the vehicle operator of the wheel location having the low inflation pressure of a tire.  
     
     
         6 EA 8 . The apparatus of claim  6 EA 2 , further comprising an instruction for dispatching a police officer to intercept the vehicle having the low inflation pressure of a tire.  
     
     
         6 EA 9 . The apparatus of claim  6 EA 2 , further comprising a camera for photographing the vehicle operator and license plate of the vehicle having the low inflation pressure of a tire.  
     
     
         6 EA 10 . The apparatus of claim  6 EA 2 , further comprising a device for reading a serial number of the tire having the low inflation pressure.  
     
     
         6 EA 11 . The method of claim  6 EA 10 , wherein the serial number of the tire is recorded in the RFID tag and is read by the RFID tag reader.  
     
     
         6 EA 12 . The apparatus of claim  6 EA 1 , further comprising an alert signal when a tire pressure is at a desired pressure.  
     
     
         6 EA 13 . The apparatus of claim  6 EA 1 , further comprising an alert signal when a tire pressure exceeds a maximum pressure.